In 1982, retiree Donald Dorff was the first person to be diagnosed with a sleep disorder that, unbeknownst to him at the time, would unlock monumental breakthroughs in research for dementia and Parkinson’s.
The disorder in question, “rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder” or RBD, caused Dorff to engage in violent movement while asleep. He was able to inflict harm on himself during REM sleep, a period when the body is supposed to be paralyzed while dreaming.
“Limb jerking, twitching, throwing out your arm, throwing punches, kicking, sitting up, standing, jumping out of bed and running. Those behaviors are very typical with RBD,” Dr. Carlos Schenck, a professor and psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota’s Hennepin County Medical Center, told CNN.
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